Taste the Dark
by Janice-and-her-ideas
Summary: Sera's life is everything but simple since she has to deal with eating problems and abusive ex-boyfriend. Even her greatest passion, dancing, in endangered. Too bad she is unfortunate enough to be the first adult in centuries who can hear certain Nightmare King's voice. The last thing she needs right now is the Bogeyman developing an obsession of her. AU, dark PitchxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Taste the Dark**

**AN:** I really tried to resist, but here we are. There is just too few fics about Pitch where he's paired with someone else than Jack. So I ended up writing until the middle of the night. Again. I thought I might as well share it with you people. I'm sorry if there's something wrong with the language, I hope you like it. ^^

Oh, and if you're looking for fluffy fic close this story and back off slowly. Right now. I don't do fluff.

**Also**, this is an AU-fic. In this universe, when the great battle is over Pitch doesn't get dragged down the rabbit-hole-of-doom, but instead the Guardians decide to capture him and put him somewhere he can't escape. With some complications.

oooOooo

A young man sat on his couch, leaning on his elbow and watching a television. He was bored to death, as nothing interesting was on at one o'clock in the morning. He surfed along old sitcoms, info-mercials, and late night shows, glancing at the clock above the old T.V. every so often.

He was completely unaware of the six other people in the living room. However, they weren't _really_ people at all, technically. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost, the Sandman, and the Boogeyman were ancient beings the young man had stopped believing in long ago. The winged bird-like Tooth Fairy, Tooth was her name, fluttered around the room anxiously, her pink eyes wide and alert. Santa Claus, a big Russian swordsman called North, was scratching his balding scalp with a quizzical expression on his aged face, and the large Australian Easter Bunny, Bunnymund, tapped his oversized furry foot impatiently against the carpeted floor. Pitch Black, King of the Nightmares, stared darkly at the opposite wall, his arms and legs tied carefully with stiff ropes of golden dream sand, provided by the Sandman. He didn't bother to attempt escape, the result of falling flat on his face not worth it. The little golden man, Sandy, stood next to him, arms crossed and determinant look on his face.

Jack Frost, silver haired with piercing blue eyes, peered out the window and broke the silence, "Where are we exactly?"

"I don't know," North shrugged his broad shoulders. "I only brought us here!"

"Oh, well that's great then!" Bunnymund growled, irritated with their situation. "You just created a portal with your little magic snow ball thingy to take us to some random-"

"Keep it down, Bunny!" Tooth hissed, glowering at the large rabbit. "Some kid might be sleeping around here!"

"Actually, I created portal to place with no children nearby!" North explained proudly, his Russian accent distorting his English slightly.

"No wonder," Jack said softly, almost to himself. "This place is awful…" He was looking through the window at the dirty, dark alleyways that suspicious people lurked about in. The pale winter spirit observed that he and the Guardians were in a small apartment, most likely on the third floor. The dark atmosphere and dank streets was clearly not a place to raise children.

"And _why_ didn't you just take us to the North Pole again?" Bunnymund muttered at the jolly Russian, his furry arms crossed in an irritated fashion. North just shook his head.

"This one here," he poked Pitch in the chest with a sausage finger, hard enough to nearly make the Nightmare King fall backwards, "is going nowhere near my Globe! This shall be our headquarters and his prison until we figure out what to do with him." The large Guardian nodded stubbornly at the Boogeyman, his white bushy eyebrows furrowed with resoluteness.

"But shouldn't we put him somewhere more… secure?" Tooth asked, glancing at the Boogeyman apprehensively. Pitch scowled at her, but refused to say anything. North looked at Sandy pryingly. "Well, will this keep him at bay for now?" Sandy nodded proudly, forming a golden sand figure of Pitch in a cage over his head. Jack nodded, understanding, and translated to the others, "Apparently Sandy's dream sand and my ice power combined stop Pitch from using his powers." He shot a smirk toward the Boogeyman's direction, satisfied that he had the Nightmare King helpless.

"Or he's just bluffing," Bunnymund muttered suspiciously. Pitch lifted the corner of his mouth.

"Fine," North shouted, exasperated. "From now on, two of us shall be here looking after Pitch, while others are taking care of duties. Until we find suitable place to put him away, we'll take shifts."

"Unfair!" Tooth protested, her bright pink eyes flashing. "You and Bunnymund only have one actual work day, you should be here!" Her fairy wings buzzed angrily.

"Too late, decision has been made!" North declared, grinning.

"Besides," Bunny suddenly spoke up. "Don't assume I don't work my tail off throughout the year. There are a _lot_ eggs to be painted, sheila." He gave Tooth a smirk and crossed his arms, glad that he wasn't the only one suffering consequences for this.

Suddenly, the clicking sound of a key turning into a lock snapped the Guardians out of their bickering. Immediately they looked to the front door. The nearly asleep man on the sofa jumped up and sat quickly back down, pretending to be bored again. He had shoulder length messy black hair, and he was wearing a green, checkered shirt half tucked inside his tight, black jeans. A black tie hung loosely from his neck. To Pitch, the boy looked ridiculous; just like most of the young adults these days.

A girl, looking around the age eighteen, stumbled inside, cursing under her breath. She leaned against the kitchen counter and held her hand against her mouth. Her fingers were covered in blood.

"Oh my," Tooth gasped, a feathered hand covering her mouth in shock. She was always concerned when it came to teeth being harmed.

"Oh my God, Sera!" The young dark haired man jumped up from the sofa and rushed to the girl. His face was full of concern as he observed the young girl's injuries.

"Bill?" she muttered, kicking off her black leather boots. "What are you- what are you doing here?" Her voice was hoarse, frail from her condition.

"I kinda live here," Bill said, dragging her inside the kitchen to sit on a nearby stool.

The girl, Sera, nodded weakly, "Well yeah, but I thought you would be at you parent's house this week?"

"I came to see you," he smiled softly, giving her hopeful puppy-eyes. Sera ignored those pleading eyes, and Bill got a bundle of wet paper towels, wiping the blood off her chin. Pitch nearly laughed at the young man's pathetic attempts to earn Sera's affection. He could already see that this girl would never respect anyone that pitiful.

The girl wasn't unpleasant to look at, the Nightmare King noticed. Her slightly curly hair was dark as night, but the tips were electric blue. Under a black leather jacket, bloodstained green scarf, red top, black shabby shorts, and fishnet tights was a tiny, fragile body. Pitch followed with his eyes down her frame, discovering a barbwire tattoo that was circling up her right leg. The end of it disappeared under her shorts.

"What the hell happened?" Bill pressed, cleaning off the rest of the blood.

"I ran into Sid," Sera muttered, looking down at the floor. Bill froze.

"What! He's out already?"

"Apparently," she nearly growled.

"But how is that possible?" Bill stared at Sera incredulously, his eyes wide and imploring to get answers.

"I don't know," she snapped, looking up from the floor. She jumped off the stool, hastily removing her jacket and scarf. "I don't even really care! I'll just have to stay away out of his way from now on, I guess." Her voice trailed off.

"Oh, really?" Bill's voice raised an octave higher. "It's a wonder he didn't kill you, Sera!"

"I didn't give him a chance," she muttered darkly.

"This is crazy!" Bill was walking in a circle now, pacing.

Sera crossed her arms, leaning against the countertop. "Stop panicking. I'm fine." Her voice was indifferent, numb.

Bill sighed and stopped his pacing, looking at her with a sad expression. He walked over to where she was leaning against the counter, and pulled her into his arms, burying his nose into her hair. "I just… I'm worried about you, love."

Sera didn't react at first, letting him hold her, but suddenly she winced in pain. Her back ached and felt like it was on fire. Bill turned her around to observe the injury and lifted his hand in front of his face, letting out a gasp. Her red blouse was shredded, exposing her pale back. It was covered in blood.

"Sera, you're bleeding!"

"What the-" Sera made to move away, but was stopped.

"Sit down. Now." Bill pointed at wooden bench next to the sofa. Sera sighed and slowly walked to it and sat down, her legs on both sides of the bench. She dipped her head, her dark hair curtaining around her slim face. Bill disappeared into another room that Pitch assumed was a bathroom. Sera pulled her red blouse over her head. For a moment the Guardians froze to stare at her stomach that was covered with a web of thin, clearly old, scars. They turned away awkwardly, feeling guilty for staring.

Pitch, however, kept his eyes on Sera, no guilt stopping him. He was rarely given an opportunity like this, what with being busied with traumatizing children in their sleep. The Nightmare King saw that she was wearing a dainty black and violet bra. Not that there was much to cover, being not very curvy because she was so thin; she looked almost malnourished. Still there was something intriguing about her pale scarred skin… But Pitch was ripped out of his daze. Jack slapped the Boogeyman on the side of the head with his staff. "Keep your eyes to yourself," he glared threateningly. Pitch rolled his eyes and only grinned at the winter spirit.

Bill suddenly rushed back with a first-aid kit. "How bad is it?" He asked worriedly. Sera trained her eyes on the ground as the dark haired boy went to work. "It's a cut on your lower back, not too deep," Bill informed her, observing the wound.

"Why don't I remember him cutting me?" Sera muttered to herself.

"Must be the adrenaline," Bill suggested as he poured some liquid on a paper towel and started to wipe the cut, "Stay still, love." She squeezed her eyes shut as intense pain took over, but didn't make a sound.

"Hospital is probably out of the question?" Bill murmured quietly, working on the wound.

"Yes," Sera managed to hiss out through the stinging.

"And the police?"

"Are you serious?" Sera rolled her eyes, irritated at the suggestion.

"Just putting it out there," Bill started to wrap gauze around her waist, mumbling under his breath. "Don't blame me when this gets infected and you die."

"Thanks," she muttered darkly. When Bill finished wrapping the gauze she quickly stood up from her place. The girl turned around and pulled her stained and shredded shirt back on. Pitch caught a sight of her back, covered with a snake tattoo. "Poison" was written in winding letters across her shoulder blades. He earned another smack from Frost's staff. "Will you stop eating her with your eyes?"

This time Pitch let out a cold laugh. "You're no better, Frost."

The moment those words left his grey lips, Sera immediately froze. "What was that?" she tensed defensively, looking around the room with sharp eyes.

"What?" Bill asked, packing up the first-aid kit. Sera became paranoid, her eyes darting around, searching for anything that was out of place. The Guardians looked to one another, wide eyed and shocked.

"She can- she can hear us?" Tooth whispered, her hands clenching together anxiously. "Th-that's impossible! That _is_ impossible, right?" She looked to the others for an answer.

"I heard a laugh. And a voice," Sera said, slowly. "A man's voice."

"No," Pitch murmured softly, eyes wide with curiosity. "She heard _me_."

The girl jumped at his words. She walked closer to the spot where Pitch and the Guardians stood. Only a few steps away, she tilted her head to the side and muttered, "I could've sworn I heard… But who?" The cursed Easter kangaroo covered Pitch's mouth with a large furry paw, right when the Boogeyman was about to answer.

Bill, even more concerned than he was before, grabbed Sera by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. "Sera, are you stoned?" He looked her straight in the eye, looking for any signs of drug use.

"What! No, I heard a voice and-" Sera was caught off from her defense.

"Well, I didn't hear anything. You're still in a shock! You should get some sleep." He guided her to other door that led to the main bedroom. "I'll bring your meds, okay?"

Pitch kept his intense gold eyes on the girl, who turned to glance over her shoulder, a baffled look on her face, before she disappeared into the other room.

As soon as they were gone, the yelling started.

"Okay, what was that?"

"She could hear him, but not us?"

"How is that even possible?"

"Maybe we should switch houses?"

"No! The plan remains the same. Now we'll just have to gag him, too."

Pitch didn't take his eyes off the door she was behind. The Guardians maybe didn't understand what had happened, but it was crystal clear to the Nightmare King. For Sera, Pitch Black was more real to her than the Guardians themselves. She was more familiar with nightmares than bunnies hopping around hiding Easter eggs, or little fairies exchanging teeth for quarters. The feeling of victory was overwhelming to the Man in Black. Pitch could barely hide his satisfied grin. For now, he was just a voice in the air, but she would see him, eventually. In fact, he would become the realest thing she had ever known.

oooOooo

**AN:** I had some really weird problems while writing this. Like what comes from TV at night in UK? (Yes, this story takes place in UK, London.)

Please let me know what you think!

~Janice


	2. Chapter 2

He was stuck with the whiny fairy and that hot shot kangaroo. Pitch rolled his gold eyes, repulsed with the two Guardians he deemed most agitating. The Nightmare King had been placed in the corner of the living room, sitting on the carpeted floor uncomfortably. With no use of his powers, he was unable to seat himself upon his shadows. The previous night was spent with him sitting statue-like, eyes closed and face blank. Pitch had tried to fall into a sleep-like state, where he could swell in his anger and fantasize about the most creative ways of torturing the Guardians, and also to attempt to summon his precious nightmares. It was a hopeless task with that cursed little featherbrain fairy doing "remote work" right next to him, chirping locations of children's teeth to her "baby tooths." Pitch hated those annoying little creatures, and the feeling was mutual to the little fairies about Pitch. He received many death glares from the twittering busybodies for his past actions of kidnapping the fairies.

The blasted Easter kangaroo wasn't any better. When he wasn't complaining in his stupid accent, he crunched on a carrot in an annoying fashion, inches away from Pitch's ear. Together, the two Guardians had managed to create a nasty headache for Pitch by the time the sun rose. Even more of an irritation to the Nightmare King was that Pitch couldn't mock or irritate the pair back. A golden dream sand gag felt cold against his mouth, capturing perhaps his most powerful weapon, in the meantime.

The Nightmare King was currently wondering absently about whether his tongue would stick into his gag if he pushed it out, when that pathetic Bill woke up. Pajama pants hung loosely from his narrow hips, and his torso wasn't clothed. Tooth and some of her fairies giggled quietly amongst themselves. As the young man went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, Pitch saw the scratch marks on his back. This made his black imagination run loose and he felt instantly better.

Sera got up soon after. She was wearing an oversized black shirt, probably belonging to Bill. It was still long enough to where Pitch couldn't see where the barbwire tattoo on her leg ended. Her dark and blue tipped hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. Sera had shadows around her eyes, but the left one was surrounded by a nasty, newly developed, blue bruise. Her lower lip was swollen and cracked with dehydration.

Bill passed her a cup of coffee and handed over an apple. "Breakfast," he gave a sleepy smile.

Sera turned down the offer, waving it away with a shaky pale hand. "No thanks, I'm too nervous," she muttered, her voice tired and still slightly hoarse from the attack.

Bill frowned, concerned. "Why?"

"I have an important audition today, for a company that provides dancers for music videos and concerts." Sera explained importantly, stretching her arms.

Bill lifted his eyebrows. "Well, if I were you, I wouldn't want to blank out right in the middle of something as big as that."

Sera stared at him for a moment, and then took the apple. She started to carefully cut it into thin slices, her dark brows furrowed in concentration as she separated the apple into careful pieces.

"You know you could eat that three times faster, right?" Bill called out over his shoulder as he walked to the bathroom. Sera ignored his words and threw half of the apple in the rubbish bin as soon as he was out of eyeshot. Then she started to patiently nibble her slices.

It took the girl half an hour to finish, and when her plate was finally empty she glanced at the clock and rushed to the bedroom. She came out wearing black leggings and a simple knee length dress. Sera threw a red canvas bag over her shoulder. "I'm going," she shouted to Bill as she ran to the door and pulled her boots and leather jacket on. She was just about to close the door behind her when she reached into her pocket – and froze on her feet. "Well, fuck."

Pitch's gold eyes followed her, amused when the girl squirreled fiercely around the room, emptying the contents of every box and drawer onto the floor. "Not now, not now, not now," she muttered, exasperated. "Bill, have you seen my earphones?"

"No," he shouted back from the bedroom.

"Of course not," she hissed while pulling a drinking bottle, some clothes and a pair of dancing shoes out of her bag and turned it upside down.

Bill peeked from the bedroom. "Why don't you just go on without them before you're late?"

"No, no, no!" Sera shook her head determinately. "Life without a working pair of earphones is no life at all!" Bill rolled his eyes and tossed her a black pile of wires.

"Fine, then. Have mine."

"Thank you!" she immediately brightened with a smile, and packed her bag back up. In no time, Sera stormed out of the apartment, leaving Bill on his own. He sighed, looking at the mess she had made. After Sera slammed the door behind her, Pitch lost interest in his surroundings again, returning to his statue posture.

A few hours later, Bill was received a phone call from his friend, Rich. He turned the phone on to speaker mode and placed the mobile on an arm of the sofa, leaving both of his hands free to continue painting his nails black.

"So, do you want me to come over?" Rich asked after a few minutes of light conversation.

"No, I'm not at my parent's house anymore," Bill answered, applying a coat to his left thumb.

"Back at Sera's already?"

"Yeah, I don't know. I just… I don't like to be away from her, since you never know when she takes off and everything."

"Takes off? She just gets up and goes, whenever she wants?" Rich sounded confused.

"Yeah, like last month. She just packed her stuff and said she wanted to go to Scotland for a couple of weeks. She didn't answer any of my calls, and I was all nervous 'cause I didn't know what she was doing," Bill paused, swallowing hard, "Or _who_ she was doing."

"No kidding?" Rich sounded astounded on the other end of the line. "If my girl would do something like that, I'd dump that bitch!"

Bill smiled shortly. "That's not how it kinda works between us, Richie. I knew what I was bargaining for, she doesn't really hide that she has others. I just didn't realize it would bother me this much, y'know?"

"Then why do you take it, man?"

Bill flinched internally. "Because, the moment I try to possess her, she's out the door."

"And why would that be so bad?"

Bill stopped to stare at his black nails. "It sounds stupid but," he let out a soft sigh. "She needs me."

oooOooo

**AN**: So I have been writing all evening and the chapter was just stretching and stretching… So I decided to split it in half so I wouldn't have to censor it shorter just so it would be more pleasant to read. This part was kind of boring, but you will get the entertaining part to tomorrow, okay?

All the lovely reviews! I really couldn't expect the warm welcome this story got, so thank you so much everyone! The reviews and follows are the ones that get me writing.

I had this huge insecurity attack today and felt like I suck at writing, especially in English. I'm really sorry for the grammar mistakes out there, for now my only beta is Microsoft Word so… I do have some actual concern though: I have been focusing in Pitch and Sera in the story, would you guys like to hear more about what the Guardians are doing? Let me know!

Till tomorrow,

~Janice


	3. Chapter 3

_"If you say it, then mean it!_

_If you mean it, then do it!_

_This one's for the outcast, for those about to fall_

_This is for the lowlife, this one's for us all_

_La la la la la la..._

_This is for the outcast,_

_We don't need a cure!"_

Sera let the loud sound of soulful rock fill her head as she walked down the street. It would've taken much less time to go by metro, but she didn't want to risk running into Sid again. It was finally starting to sink in. Sid was back, and she would eventually have to do something about it; or wait for him to come for her. She preferred the first option. Damn, he wasn't supposed to be out of jail for years, not after what he did to her. Someone from the gang had probably bailed him out. Fortunately, he had been drunk, surprised and only with one friend when they had met. She had managed to take off before getting seriously injured. Sera had covered the black eye in the locker room.

At least she had done okay in the audition, however the healing stab wound from the night before had made it a bit rough for her. Sera had been a "rara avis," a rare find among those who had auditioned, with her wild hair, tattoos and scars. This wasn't new to Sera in the least, but at least she stood out. They had all performed their own one short solo, and then came together for a group choreography session. Sera had nailed her favorite solo, except for one twirl that was a challenge. She had covered it up well, as if her stumbling was part of the choreography, but it still bugged her. Sera was a strict perfectionist when it came to her dancing, and failure was _not _acceptable. She would practice until she nailed that twirl flawlessly.

The buildings were getting dirtier and far less appealing as she walked on. She was close. Sera fastened her phase, trying to feel her toes again as snow slowly fell down from the sky. Why was it always so cold?

Pitch lifted his head when the door opened and Sera walked in, as did Jack Frost and the Sandman, who were taking their turn to be his "babysitters." Bill had left a few hours ago and Pitch welcomed anything that distracted him from Jack's attempts to have a conversation with the Sandman. The girl had a determinant look on her face as she marched to the bathroom and returned with dancing shoes in hand. As delicate as het little feet were, they were dancer's feet. The skin was tough, callused, and hardened. She slipped the shoes on and tied the dainty laces carefully around her ankles.

After she had coldly cleared herself some space, she started to spin. She was on the tip of her other leg, her arms making circular movement to keep her in motion. Pitch was hypnotized by the sight, captured by her swift movements.

"Damn," Jack muttered as she just went on and on, picking up speed with her free foot every few seconds.

Surprisingly, after minutes of continuous twirling, Sera lost her balance and fell with a painful thump. Sandy and Jack shared a pitiful look. Sera had landed on her left side, her frame rigid with frustration as she caught her breath. "Damn it," she cursed roughly and dragged herself onto the nearby sofa. Sera pulled her shoes off carefully and winced. Her feet were covered in blood.

"New shoes," she sighed, sounding slightly gentle, and walked to the bathroom. She left bloody footprints to the floor. Pitch thought they looked, in a twisted way, sort of… beautiful. He would have to use those in some nightmare in the future.

Soon, Sera returned from the bathroom with her feet wrapped tightly in white gauze. She sighed as she saw the state of her floor and went to get a bucket and a rag from the supply closet from the kitchen. Her face was emotionless as she wiped the traces of blood off away from the surface.

Hours late, Bill returned and Sera quickly pulled a pair of thick wool socks over her bandaged feet. He leaned to kiss her over the shoulder, and Pitch narrowed his eyes.

oooOooo

It was midnight. Sera sat cross legged on the sofa, watching videos of her old dance performances. Pitch found them very interesting. When she danced, she looked innocent, seductive, light as a feather and broken by sorrow, whatever was required. The girl stretched her toes close to her face, swirled, spun around, skipped, and formed intricate images with her body. This odd way of moving was (especially for a woman) somehow immodest, yet still beautiful. The Sandman was sending dream sand all around the world at the front window, but it didn't seem to affect her in any way as she studied video after video…

Bill placed a white pill into her palm. "You should get some sleep. You only got, like, five hours of rest last night."

"I know, Bill." she mumbled, not taking her eyes off the screen. Bill squeezed her shoulders.

"Please, Sera," he murmured.

"Fine", she huffed, throwing her hand to her mouth and swallowing the pill in haste. "See? You go to sleep. I'll be there in a minute." Bill nodded and went to the bedroom after giving her one last worried look.

The moment Sera had took the white pill, golden sand started to float closer. She inhaled it, and in ten minutes her eyes started to flicker shut. The girl collapsed on her side and curled into a ball, quickly drifting to sleep. Sandy smiled gently at her as Jack went to turn the DVD player off. Gold dream sand over Sera's head formed images of her singing and floating around in a dreamlike state, a happy smile on her face.

Pitch would have gasped if he could, when the golden sand later started to turn darker. The small dream sand-figure of Sera stopped and stood very still as the dream sand turned completely black. Pitch watched in fascination: the girl attracted nightmares all herself. Another figure of black sand appeared and seized her into an embrace. Sera let out a silent groan and Jack and Sandy turned to look at her.

"What!" Pitch snapped out of his staring as Jack grabbed him roughly by the sleeve.

"Leave her dreams alone, Pitch!" but the Nightmare King shook his head and rolled his eyes, to tell that he had nothing to do with it. He couldn't, not when his powers were inactive from Sandy and Jack's binding dream-ice collaboration. Besides, it's not like he ran around personally granting every single nightmare. People with fears and problems summoned them all on their own.

"Turn it back," Jack growled, turning to Sandy. The little golden man tossed a ball of his dream sand in Sera's direction, but it merely blended into the nightmare. The two Guardians sighed. When kids grew up, they no longer needed protection from them, so they stopped believing. When they stopped believing, they could no longer be affected by the Guardians protection. The adults, including Sera, were on their own.

The black figure was holding its hand on dream sand-Sera's throat and she started to toss around. Pitch felt her fear and drank it like water, feeling suddenly immensely better and refreshed. Then she suddenly screamed. It was long, drawn out, horrible, and filled with terror and despair. So beautiful, Pitch thought as he imagined what it would be like to make her scream like that himself.

Bill burst into the room and ran to Sera's thrashing side. He shook her until her eyes opened. The girl swiped his hands away and fell from the sofa. She backed up on the floor until her back hit the wall, not far from Pitch. Tears ran down her blotchy reddened face and she was hyperventilating. Bill stood still, clearly wanting to go to her, but knowing better not to.

In a flash, Sera turned to look at Pitch and their eyes locked. In that moment, Pitch recognized her. He recognized the little girl who used to go hide and sleep under the table when her mother was either away or fighting with one of her many boyfriends. The girl had rarely slept, and when she did, her mind welcomed the nightmares. Pitch hadn't recognized her earlier, because time had wiped all the innocence and fear off her face. But now she was the same frightened little girl from ten years ago.

Sera stared at him for a long moment with wide eyes and slowly started to move toward him. Jack and Sandy watched in horror as she extended her hand and lightly brushed the Boogeyman's cheek. Just as the girl touched him, she flinched back and buried her head into her knees.

"Oh, God," Pitch could hear her muffled whimper as he felt the tingling sensation on the spot her cold fingertips had made contact with him.

"It's me," Bill said with a calm voice as he approached her, slowly. "It was just a nightmare." He bent down to hug her, but she ignored it and jumped to her feet. Without looking back at the corner where Pitch sat, she sprinted to the bedroom. She came back wearing sweatpants. Bill watched with sad eyes as she pulled trainers on and left without saying a word. After the door had slammed shut after her, it was completely quiet.

"Should we go tell the others?" Jack broke the silence. Sandy shrugged, looking completely lost.

oooOooo

_Poison leaned against the sink, trying to slow her heavy breathing. Her throat was on fire, engulfed with searing pain. Just suddenly, out of the blue, purging after meals had started to become harder and harder. _The acid must be affecting it_, she concluded. Singing was a second nature for her, but nowadays even that hurt. She'd have to figure something out soon._

_Sid was sprawled out on sofa, staring at the ceiling. Poison lay quietly next to him and he wrapped an arm absently around her waist. She liked him. He didn't preach to her about her… habit, and he let her take care of her own business. Every now and then he seemed a bit too messed up to be a gang leader, though. Sid being always high, it was mostly Poison who took care of their shit. The number one rule of being a dealer: never use the stuff you sell. Sid just didn't get it._

_She sighed and got up. Sid grabbed her wrist. "Where are you going?" his voice was slurred and gravelly._

_"Out. Won't be back soon."_

_"Don't go." His eyes that were once adorably brown, like puppy eyes, were now sunk deep into their sockets, and he was looking at something Poison couldn't see. He had changed, overall, a lot since they had hooked up. The skin on his face was hanging over his cheekbones, he had huge circles around his eyes, and his dirty hair was hanging over his shoulders. When did he end up like this, so gaunt and broken looking?_

_Poison yanked her hand loose from his grip. "I won't be long, okay?" She didn't even see what happened next coming, but found herself on her knees, knocked to the floor. Blood was dripping on the carpet they had gotten from a recycling centre. Sid was there next to her, kissing her cheek, his arms around her shoulders. _

_"I'm so sorry, babe," he mumbled in her ear. "You're my Poison, I couldn't help it. Just… please don't go. Let's just…" Poison let him lift her to the sofa with him. Sid held her tight against his chest as they lay there quietly and warm blood slowly dried on her face._

oooOooo

Sera suddenly stumbled and almost fell on her face as the memory overtook her mind. She pulled it back together and kept running. She wasn't alone, no matter what time of day, you're never alone in London, but this was the closest thing of solitude she got. Bill was just trying to help, and that was exactly what she didn't need, nor want. Damn those nightmares, they always brought unwanted things to the surface. Sera felt the urge of leaving and taking, once again, another name in use rising. As she ran away from her problems, only the beating of her heart and the quick pace of her breathing remained. Well, except for one thing. She couldn't get the image of those dark yellow eyes, surrounded by grey gaunt skin, out of her head.

oooOooo

"God, just _please_ don't do that again, Sera! You could've been hit by a drunk driver, mugged, or worse!" Bill was pacing the living room, a usual for him in times like these, as he "scolded" the newly returned Sera like a concerned parent.

"Shush. Drawing." Sera held her hand up to silence Bill's ranting. She sat on the sofa, her eyes fixed on a sketch she was manically drawing on a big pad of paper. She was sweaty, red-eyed, and her hair was messy and stuck with sweat to her cheeks. Bill rubbed his eyes, exhausted. It was four o'clock in the morning. Sera had spent over an hour on her run and one hour drawing.

"Go live with her, they said. It'll be fun, they said," he muttered, growling to himself.

"No one said it would be fun. Everybody told you not to," she noted, eyes still fixed on her work. "There. Done," She placed the pen and pad next to her in a flourish, satisfied.

Bill leaned over her shoulder to look. "Damn," he breathed. "Name one form of art you're not good at." He let a smile cross his lips.

"You should have heard me playing fipple flute in elementary school," she answered. "Hell, I couldn't even play triangle."

"Who is that?" Bill asked, furrowing his brow.

"I don't… I don't know. I probably made him up as a child." Sera turned quiet, looking down at her hands, covered in ink from her effort.

"You should sell this shit. People would buy this from Ebay or something, y'know." Bill patted her shoulder, proudly.

Sera shook her head, laughing. "Don't be silly, Bill. Nobody wants my crappy artwork. C'mon, let's go to sleep."

When they had left the room, Jack jumped to look at her drawing with curious eyes. Looking closely at the sketch, the winter spirit let out a quiet gasp. "Um… Sandy?"

Curiosity took over Pitch and he managed to get on his knees and stretch his neck to look over at the art spectacle. His eyes widened with shock.

From the sketch pad stared an accurate ink portrait of Pitch Black.

oooOooo

**AN:** There you go, the chapter I promised, it still turned out quite long. I'm so excited; things are finally starting to happen! I have like tons of material for this in my head, sometimes I don't even know how to fit it all in. Reading your reviews is the best part of my day, keep sending those. Thanks for reading, dearies!

~Janice


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't like this" Bunny said for the hundredth time, sharpening his boomerangs. He was sitting side by side with North, a few meters from Pitch. "If the girl really saw him, there must be something seriously wrong with her. We should get the hell out and away from here."

"You're being too harsh, Bunny," North said gently, his blue eyes sparkling. "Serafina's had hard times behind her. When she was very young, her mother told her there was no Santa and they could not afford Christmas presents!" The Guardian's expression turned grim. "When an eight year old is forced to take care of hung over mother, there is not much hope and wonder in life. Besides, she doesn't see him anymore; does she? I say we stay, so we can keep eye on her." North nodded in firm belief of his decision, crossing his tattooed forearms.

Bunnymund looked at North incredulously, opened his furry mouth to argue, but snapped it shut, grumbling as he crossed his arms defiantly. "Well, I still don't like it..."

Sera sat on the windowsill, staring outside with absent eyes. She had tossed the drawing of Pitch in the closet before leaving for work this morning. Yes, she didn't see Pitch anymore. Apparently she needed to be in a vulnerable state of nightmares to truly believe in him. It was frustrating, really, because Pitch knew exactly how he could make her believe. However, that couldn't be done as long as he was entrapped. A slight smirk formed on the Nightmare King's lips and he hid it quickly. The Guardians had no idea what a favor they had done for him, placing him so close to a person so broken, with so many fears. It had been two days since her nightmare and it had somehow unleashed everything she was afraid of. Pitch felt stronger every moment when she was around. At nights the girl stared at the television, coffee-mug in her hands, and refused to take her pill until she passed out and dreamed of nothing. Pitch fed on her fear of sleeping. Few months before, the Sandman's bonds would have been unbreakable, but when he had made them there had been only a handful of children believing. Without anyone noticing, dark sand gnawed the bonds from the inside.

Bill returned from work, carrying two big shopping bags full of groceries. "Hi, honey!" he said, getting the usual no response. He turned the radio on and started to cook dinner, dancing around the kitchen. It still didn't make sense to Pitch. He was so perky and Sera was so… everything but that. Pitch could see how it annoyed her, him always making a fuss out of everything and constantly trying to take care of her. And still she tolerated it, like an adult who benevolently ignores an annoying child.

A new song started on the radio and Sera's shoulders suddenly tensed. "Hey, isn't that the song they named you after back in the gang; Poison?" Bill asked over the music.

"Yeah," she muttered as he turned the volume up. "When did I tell you that?" First there was a guitar riff and then Bill started to sing along with the lyrics:

_Your cruel device,_

_Your blood like ice_

_One look could kill_

_My pain, your thrill_

_I want to love you, but I better not touch_

_I want to hold you but my senses tell me to stop_

_I want to kiss you, but I want it too much_

_I want to taste you, but your lips are venomous poison_

_You're poison runnin' thru my veins_

Sera was rigid, her lips absently moving along with the words. _Interesting_, Pitch thought. Poison used to be her name, and that's why it was tattooed on her back.

"How cool it would be to be named after Alice Cooper's song!" Bill continued his cheery chattering. Sera just scoffed ironically. Pitch continued listening to the song.

_I hear you calling, and its needles and pins_

_I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name_

_Don't want to touch you, but you're under my skin_

_I want to kiss you, but your lips are venomous poison_

_You're poison runnin' thru my veins_

_You're poison, I don't want to break these chains_

_'I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name…'_ Yes, that sounded about right. Pitch could see why she had been named after the song.

"We'll be eating steamed veggies and mashed potatoes today," Bill announced happily. And there it appeared: the fear on Sera's face. It took a while for Pitch to identify it, since adult's fears were more hidden than a child's that was more pronounced: It was her fear of eating. Yet another thing about Sera Pitch couldn't quite get his finger on.

"Bill, please," she begged quietly, to his surprise. "No potato-mash."

Bill sighed. "Fine, but let me make a dressing."

Sera wrapped her arms around herself uncomfortably as the song faded out and a new song replaced it on the radio. Bill turned the volume down as he set to work with the dressing for the vegetables.

Half an hour later, a plateful of food was placed on the table. "C'mon, before it gets cool!" Sera stood up grudgingly and slowly made her way to her chair. Bill sat opposite of her and started wolfing down his food. Sera drank a big glass of water and moved her food around with a fork, glaring daggers at the vegetables.

"Eat," Bill gave her a look as he watched her. "You ruined your singing voice already. Do you want the same thing to happen with your dancing?"

Sera stared at him sourly for a moment and relentlessly stabbed a carrot. Pitch loved the waves of fear and anxiety that came from her as she slowly swallowed one small bite after another. After eating about half of her portion she broke the silence: "How many cal-"

"Hey, no c-word, remember?" Bill cut her off.

Sera huffed. "How much energy-content does this have?"

"It's the same thing, that's cheating." Bill cracked a smile.

"Fine," she gave up and stabbed another carrot.

It took Sera a long time to struggle down most of her dinner, but Bill sat with her patiently, chatting about meaningless stuff to distract her. When she pushed the plate away, he smiled and ate the rest. Sera drank some more water and went out for a run. Bill started to clean the dishes, smiling like he had done a very good deed.

oooOooo

The next day, Sera was walking back from work again. She still couldn't bring herself to use the metro. The girl cursed the existence of her ex-boyfriend, Sid, once again. He was causing Sera nightmares, which caused her to be afraid to sleep. So she avoided sleeping as long as she could and got up early. It was affecting her job as a dancer and she hated it.

Cold waves crept up Sera's back as she recalled the events from a few years back. The night she had left Sid, she had taken some of their money with her. The gang had caught her before she managed to get out of London and dragged her in some dark, stinking room…

"I love you so much… But I can't forgive you for what you did to me, you're making me punish you," Sid had whispered in her ear, over and over again. The next recollection she had was waking up in hospital, beaten half to death with a chest and stomach decorated with scars. The psychologist they had arranged to meet with had said the memories were so painful she had smothered them. Oh, really? Sera hated that bitch.

She shook her head, trying to think of something else, like the fact that Bill was really starting to get on her nerves. He's trying to make me fat; Sera thought, but guiltily pushed it away. No, it was good he was making her eat, and she knew that. But there was something else. Bill was starting to get a bit too attached. Sera felt the l-bomb coming from him soon and if he said that, she would have no other choice but to let him go.

When she finally arrived at her front door, she felt anxious about going inside. Bill was still at work and she didn't like to be there alone anymore. It felt like there was something… wrong; something that didn't belong there. As soon as she thought about it, she realized how stupid it was and stepped inside. Sera was many things, but not an irrational person, or so she liked to think.

She clicked the lights on, took off her jacket and threw her stuff to the corner. She was just about to get her laptop, when a familiar voice made her freeze.

"'Ello, Poison. Did you miss me?"

oooOooo

Pitch, Jack and North followed with interest as Sera slowly turned around to face a man that was leaning casually on the kitchen counter. He had broken in only half an hour ago.

"Sid," she hardly managed to croak out. Her fear and anxiety slowly started to increase as the man dressed in shabby jeans and a leather jacket slowly started to approach her. Sera stood her ground, her hands clenching into fists. "It didn't take you long to find out where I live," she growled hoarsely.

Sid stopped in front of her. "Honey, you should know I have a lot of friends around here. It's actually kinda weird you stayed around. You hoped to see me again, didn't you?" He ran his fingers on her cheek, down to her neck. Sera cringed.

"What do you want?" she asked and flinched, as if expecting a violent outburst.

Sid merely grinned, his yellowing teeth showing. He let out a small chuckle, leering down on her with dark eyes as he answered with a rough voice: "Just to finish what I started."

He reached towards his pocket.

That's when Sera's fear took over. She slammed against Sid with full force and they both fell to the floor. Pitch inhaled her negative emotions deeply and almost laughed aloud. When Sera was afraid she didn't freeze, run, or hide. She fought. _Fantastic_, the Boogeyman mused. Sera was straddling her enemy's hips and didn't stop her fists from punching. Though Sid fought back, earning Sera some heavy blows to the face, she defended herself well.

Jack quickly jumped up to aid the girl, but that was obviously debunked as useless. "We need to do something!" he yelled desperately to North, but the bearded Guardian sadly placed his large hand on Jack's shoulder. "We can't. They're both adults."

"So we're just gonna stand by and watch?"

"There is nothing we can do, Jack." The winter spirit looked outraged.

Sid tried to get up, but Sera hit his head aside with her elbow. Even Pitch winced at the painful sound of that. Sera, hopelessly fragile compared to her opponent, eventually got overpowered by Sid. He hit her head hard against the floor and started to strangle her with his large hands.

Pitch didn't have time to worry about the state of his little dancer girl as he felt his powers slowly starting to overpower the golden bonds around him. Sera was so afraid, it gave Pitch a great boost. In addition to the chaos, Frost and North were too focused in following the fight to notice Pitch slowly start to wriggle out of his bonds…

Sera coughed, desperately trying to get some air. Sid reached for his pocket and pulled out a switchblade. That's when she blindly reached her hands out, grabbed something and hit him to the face with it. It was a desk lamp. Sid cried out and held his head with his free hand. Sera coldly took the advance of it and hit him repeatedly. Eventually, Sid fell, either unconscious or dead, next to her, his hair slick with blood. Sera breathed heavily on her knees, not sure which fated she hoped for more.

"Well… that was terrible," Jack slowly stated, stunned.

"Oh indeed, Frost. But _I_ know of something much worse."

The Guardians, noticing the voice's owner, turned quickly to check on their prisoner, only to find the Nightmare King free of his golden bonds. Before getting the chance to take action, black Night Mares pinned North and Frost to the floor. Pitch laughed gloriously, stretching out his arms and marveling in his success of escape. Sera spun around in the midst of this, searching for the source of the dark voice and laughter.

Pitch then slid to her quickly through the shadows, placing his mouth to her ear. "Thank you, precious. I'll get back to you later." His whisper was silky and full of danger, quiet enough so that the Guardians didn't hear. With that said, Pitch sunk thorough the ground, leaving only a pile of black sand after him.

Back in his lair, Pitch stretched his limbs and rubbed the place where the gag had chafed uncomfortably. As an immortal, he really didn't need to eat, sleep, or move, but he still didn't particularly enjoy being forced to sit in the same position, day after day.

Pitch ran his hand across his globe that was filled with flickering lights once again, thinking about his next move. There was obviously the urgent revenge matter, but he also felt tempted to pay a certain girl a visit. The Guardians wouldn't (unfortunately) go anywhere, after all. The Nightmare King grinned widely. Yes, he did feel like playing with something. He had his plan ready. The only thing _she_ had to do was fall asleep.

oooOooo

**AN:** Oh my! As you can probably see, shit is going down in the next chapter. First I was all like "I need to get the next chapter of my other fic out before writing this!" but then I got all these awesome reviews and couldn't help but write. So here we are.

But seriously, all my readers are so awesome! *hugs* The reviews just feed my muse so much I can't help but write. I'm a bit scared of writing the next chapter really, I don't want to mess up when my story's main characters finally officially meet… Well let's hope for the best!

Let me know what you think!

~Janice


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Long time no see! This one took me awhile because of the Christmas-stuff etc, I'm terribly sorry about that! I hope you guys didn't give up from hope; I am not done with this story yet!

Awesome news: I have a beta now! Huuuge credit for **ByeByeRainBird** for doing so awesome work with this story! Former chapters have also been freed from my awful grammar and lack of good adjectives. But enough with the chattering, let's get down to business!

oooOooo

"This won't take long, Ms. Dove. We just want to ask a few questions. Would you like something to drink?"

"No."

"Okay then, let's begin." The detective pulled out a black pen from his pocket, preparing to take notes as he started questioning Sera.

"So, you share your apartment with William Jackson, correct?"

"I am."

"And Mr. Salford broke in your house while no one was present?"

"He did."

"Have you met him recently before this?"

"No."

"Not once?"

"I said no, detective."

"I see. Did he attack you first?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to describe this more closely?"

"He came at me with his switchblade. I pushed him down to the floor."

"You seem rather… small, compared to a grown man like him."

"Do I?"

"So… I just… How did you actually overpower him exactly?"

"I bashed his face in with a lamp."

"I see... Why do you think he attacked you?"

"You have the file right there, you know. He fucking went to prison because he got caught violating me, what the hell do you think?"

"There's no reason to get aggressive."

"He tried to kill me because you let him out of jail, just like that! Don't _you_ try to tell me that I'm not allowed to get aggressive!"

"You need to calm down before we can continue this, Miss Dove."

oooOooo

She sat on a windowsill and warmed her hands with a cup of green tea. Sera hated green tea to be honest, but drinking it was a habit. She had a lot of habits she couldn't let go of. Her house smelled like detergent. Bill had thoughtfully scrubbed Sid's blood off the floor before dropping her off at the police station. She had barely managed to persuade him to go to work. It was raining outside as she stared off through the window, and Sera felt like singing.

_"So playful, so wild,  
My heart beats like a child  
The scent of romance,  
The danger, the dance,_

_Feel the light,  
Taste the dark,_

_Play with all of your heart,_

_The passion, The heat,  
Your lips,  
So sweet."_

Song dripped off of her lips reflexively, until she reminded herself not to sing. An irritated throat was the last thing Sera needed right now. It was strange, really. The thing she had feared so much had just happened and she only felt tired, empty. Even though there was so much weird shit to worry about. That wicked voice, for example.

The tea in Sera's cup cooled and she set it aside without taking a sip. She went to change into Bill's shirt, took her pill for the first time in a week, and curled up on the sofa. Bill had never learned to understand why Sera didn't want to sleep in the bedroom. Not that he needed to.

What Sera didn't know was that she had company. In fact, there was a dark figure sitting on right next to her. The golden eyes of Pitch Black were fixed on her as she attempted to turn into a little ball. His slender fingers balled to fists as he resisted the urge to whisper some sweet dreams into Sera's ear. Patience; he needed to be patient. It would be much more fun, when he could also feel that pale delicate skin under his fingers. Yes, it would definitely be worth it…

Pitch wasn't afraid of the Guardians; they wouldn't search him at a place where they had already held him captive. He had plenty of time to play with his new toy. An almost gentle-like smile formed on the Boogeyman's lips as her eyes flickered shut and golden sand started to form its calm shapes.

oooOooo

The first thing she recognized was the smell, like always. It was a stifling, heavy scent of dust with a sweet-like hint of weed; the smell of Sid. Then, she noted the dirty pile of mattresses in the corner and felt the dusty cold wood under her bare feet. She was there again, in that room. Sera shut her eyes, waiting for Sid to grab her from behind, as he always does. Then she would feel the cold and narrow blade on her cheek, and hear Sid whispering of how much he loved her as she would stand, paralyzed…

Arms wrapped themselves around her waist, like she had expected. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a nose pushed its way through Sera's curls. The person behind her inhaled deeply, _smelling_ her hair. She furrowed her eyebrows, eyes still shut. No, this wasn't right. It broke the pattern.

Sera's eyes shot open. The room was different. Wood had changed to rough stone. It was dark, only some cold dim light came from some place she couldn't see. A cold body pressed against Sera's back that wasn't Sid's. She realized it was taller and slimmer. _It can't be_, she thought.

Sera suddenly broke away from the embrace and spun around. For a moment the girl just stared at the dark figure in front of her. It was him. The stranger who had occasionally made an appearance in her dreams since she was little. He was wearing some weird black robe that left a narrow strip of grey skin exposed on the chest. Sera raised her eyes to his face. He had a gaunt-like face, narrow lips, almost nonexistent cheeks and clearly visible cheekbones. His nose reminded her of a hawk, and so did his golden eyes that now shined of triumph. Sera had liked his clear unique features when she had sketched his face on a paper couple of days ago.

"You," Sera breathed, looking baffled as she backed up few steps. "I've seen you before." It wasn't unusual for her to dream about him (this was a dream, right?) but now something was different. Everything was too clear, as if it was really happening. The dark man smirked looking down at her intensively.

"Now have you?" Sera's eyes widened. That voice. She had only heard it a few times, but she recognized it. It was a dark, smooth, and sinister British accent that usually seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" she asked with a low voice. "Or _what _are you?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" he chuckled, still smirking. "I, my dear, am Pitch Black," he bowed dramatically, "the King of Nightmares; also known as the Bogeyman."

Sera snorted. "King of Nightmares, huh? No wonder I've seen you before."

He let out a low laugh at her remark. "It is very delightful to talk with you properly" he said. "Our former conversations have been rather short and… one-sided."

_What and odd dream_, Sera thought. Maybe her sub consciousness was trying to tell her something. "So you are the voice I have been hearing?" she asked as he stepped closer.

"Indeed. You don't see me while you're awake because you don't fully believe I exist. You think I'm a product of your imagination." His golden eyes glittered in the darkness and he was standing so close it made Sera feel a little uncomfortable. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to use some rather extreme means to get you to believe in me."

Wait, so this random grey dude was saying he wasn't invented by Sera? _Damn this dream is fucked up. _"You're lying," Sera stated, furrowing her brow.

Pitch's smile grew wider. "I guess that's true. I'm not sorry."

Without warning, he grabbed Sera's wrists and shoved her against a cold stone wall. Sera let out a surprised cry. Pitch let go of her, but her wrists remained above her head against the wall, tied by something she couldn't see. He cupped her cheeks with his long fingers. Sera narrowed her eyes and tried to move her face away. Pitch only held on tighter, his sharp fingernails slightly digging into her skin. He leaned down to meet her eyelevel, just a few inches away. "You have no idea how wonderful this feels," he murmured, grinning maliciously.

Something cold started to grow within Sera, making it hard to swallow. It was the loathing and fear, the pure hatred that raised its head whenever her personal space was invaded. "Don't touch me," she hissed.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Pitch's grin grew wider, exposing his jagged teeth. "Not after waiting for so long." Now he was running his hands up and down on her thin but firm arms, pulling the loose long sleeves of Bill's shirt down.

"Why, what have we here?" he purred. "Another tattoo!" He was caressing a spot under her left wrist, where Sera knew was her newest tattoo, a dark purple butterfly. After everything she had gone through with Sid, she had taken it to remind herself of her weakness. Physically, she was nothing but a fragile butterfly and she needed to protect herself and be strong from the inside.

Right now, Sera felt like she had been pinned in place with a needle. Pitch wasn't too helpful when he pierced the delicate skin with his nail. Sera bit her lip, to not make a sound. A warm stream of blood ran down her arm. The man's eyes flashed when he turned to lick it, placing a soft kiss on the small cut. Chills ran down Sera's spine. _This guy is sick_.

"Which reminds me," he said with a sudden cheery tone. Sera's eyes widened of surprise when he grabbed her other thigh. "I've always wondered how high this goes." he said, while running his finger along her barbwire tattoo. When he started to lift the shirt she was wearing, Sera decided she had had enough of this sudden assault.

She kicked him in the stomach with her knee and started to fiercely struggle out of her bonds. Her trademark kick to the kidneys, that usually got even a bigger man on his knees, had no effect on the Nightmare King. He grabbed her from waist and pulled her closer, laughing at the show she was giving him. "Yes, fight me!" he said in between his chuckles. He didn't need to tell her twice. Sera kicked and tugged her hands with absolutely no results.

Suddenly, Pitch placed his mouth on Sera's collarbone and a shooting pain pierced her skin. She couldn't help but throw her head back and scream. _Every single_ tooth that bit her was sharp and it hurt like hell. He raised his head to face her and his mouth was covered in crimson, dripping down his chin.

"You fucking bit me!" Sera heard herself exclaim, wherever that came from. Pitch licked his lips and grinned at her darkly.

"You taste nice" he said crushed his mouth against hers.

oooOooo

Sera jumped to sitting position, panting heavily. The dream was clearly in her head, as if it had just happened. She could almost feel the slender body pressed against her torso, his warm breath on her neck. That's it, it was official now. She was fucking out of her mind. The hamster had fallen off the wheel. Sera almost laughed out loud.

_The Boogeyman, huh?_ Sera ran a hand thorough her dark messy locks. It wasn't hard to guess where _that_ had come from. She had been a strong believer as a child that she used to shake out of fear at night, knowing he would come and give her terrible dreams of drowning, burning and being hated by all. _Especially when mom had been out and I was alone, _Sera shuddered. As she had grown older, however, she had stopped thinking about the Boogeyman, but the sense of his presence had remained. And that's why she hated sleeping in the bedroom. She felt like the shadows were watching, as stupid as it was to think.

Sera stood up slowly, her whole body feeling oddly sore. She would need a shower. The girl made her way to the bathroom quietly, not to wake Bill up (he must have returned from work by now) and locked the door carefully. She was just about to pull her shirt over her head, when her eyes met her reflection in the mirror. For a moment, Sera just stood there, frozen on her feet. Then she very slowly leaned closer, examining her collarbone. It was surrounded by nasty looking, bloody bite marks.

Her vision blurred for a moment as the realization shot thorough her. _It really happened._ As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the air around her started to thicken and turn darker. Sera's hands started to shake when a familiar pair of sharp golden eyes stared at her from the mirror. Pitch Black was standing behind her, his arms possessively around her waist. Only now she could feel the warmth of his body. "Well that didn't take long" he chuckled.

"No," Sera whispered with a hoarse voice. Dark sand was creeping up her legs. Pitch just grinned at her thorough the mirror, his teeth still covered in blood, as they were both sucked down into the darkness.

oooOooo

**AN:** This is a point I would love to get reviews from you guys! What do you think about Pitch's and Sera's interaction and is there something you would like to see? The song Sera was singing is by the way a real thing. I'm not able to put a link here, but if you search 'sims 2 taste the dark' from youtube, it's in the first video it offers. I recommend it, it's a nice and twisted little song. :)

Thanks for reading dearies!

~Janice


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** Hi readers, the old and the new! Hope this didn't take too long. Mind you, it's not beta-ad yet. I will repost it when it is. So there is a bit more mistakes than usual. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?

Chapter 6

The sweet sounds of morning traffic woke Bill up. Apparently someone had cut in front of a wrong person and was now called a "cutting little faggot". Other people were announcing their opinion by honking. God bless London.

He slowly got up to a sitting position, scrabbling his black bush of hair. Alone as usual. First it had felt a little odd to live with a girl and still sleep alone. But after realizing Sera simply wouldn't sleep with him in bedroom (she even dragged herself to the sofa after sex) he had learned to take the advance of it. At least he had a lot of space.

After stretching for awhile Bill jumped up glad that it was a day-off for both of them. He could take his time making breakfast, preparing eggs, pancakes and bacon. Sera obviously wouldn't eat it but he could cook her apple slices in cinnamon or something…

Smile died on his lips as he entered their combined kitchen and living room. Everything looked normal enough: extra junk had been thrown here and there to cover the tables and floor but it was homely kind of a mess. Bill cleaned every now and then just so Sera could leave her stuff lying where ever she felt like. But right now his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. Bill noticed the bathroom door was locked. It should have calmed him down, but it didn't. He ran to it, his heart pounding up in his throat.

"Are you there, love?" Bill called out and pounded the door. His voice was shaking a little. Getting no answer he swallowed and ran to get a screw driver. While twisting the lock open, he murmured to himself: "It's okay, she's just blacked out from drinking into an empty stomach again or something."

The door shot open and Bill felt like he's going to faint finding the bathroom empty. "Why the hell was it locked in the first place?" he muttered. Then he sprinted to the drawer in bedroom and rampaged through it. Sera's small stash of money was there, but a big amount of her clothing was gone.

Bill ran with unstable legs thorough the apartment, searching anything else that was missing. Her training bag, some hygiene-equipment from the bathroom, her brush: all gone. But what had remained were her passport, wallet, keys to their apartment, her cell phone…

Pacing around the living room, Bill started to talk to himself as usual when he was nervous: "It's just normal that she left, it's nothing terrible… But she never sneaks away during the night, she's not ashamed of leaving! She would have just told me that she would be away for awhile, right? And why would she leave everything important? Like she was in a hurry… but it's not like her! She doesn't just 'forget' her passport! No, something has happened, something… I need to call the police!"

Bill's eyes widened of horror and he stopped on his tracks. "The police! She will be needed in court because of Sid! No, she can't be gone. They will think there's something suspicious about her. I can't call the police…" He jumped as the window crashed close. Wind had probably closed it. After rejecting the idea that Sera had collected her stuff and jumped out of the window as ridiculous, Bill went back to panicking.

"It just doesn't make sense!" he groaned.

oooOooo

Actually it hadn't been the wind that had closed the window of Sera's and Bill's apartment. It was Jack Frost who had been searching for Pitch. It was hopeless, really: Pitch could be anywhere in the world. But after finding himself from London, the idea had struck Jack: what if Pitch was still there, assuming the Guardians wouldn't think of looking for him from Sera's apartment? So he had enthusiastically rushed there, just in time to hear Bill's desperate monologue.

Now the Wind was carrying him towards the North Pole as fast as it could. Terrible suspicions were dashing thorough his mind. The others had to hear about this.

The Yetis still seemed unwilling to let him enter Santa's workshop, but now that Jack was a guardian they had to. He smiled at his favorite Yeti, Phil, and only got a warning glare for a response.

North was keeping an eye at his globe, shouting instructions every now and then. "Jack Frost!" he yelled enthusiastically once he noticed the boy. It reminded Jack of the first time he had visited Santa's workshop. Minus the sack and the magic portal. North grabbed Jack into his large embrace, smelling like cinnamon and sawdust.

"What brings you here?" he asked, holding Jack's shoulders with his large palms. He furrowed his brows, noticing the worry on Winter Spirit's face. "Is something wrong?"

"I think it might be. Can you call the others?"

North examined the boy's face for a little while. "Are you sure?" he asked.

After receiving a stiff nod he shrugged his board shoulders and turned to summon the other Guardians. Northern lights spread across the sky. Jack watched them wave, glittering in differed shades of red, green and violet.

Bunny was the first one to arrive, because of his rabbit holes. He tapped the floor nervously with his paw. Before he could open his mouth Tooth dashed in, her little wings fluttering nervously. "What is it?" she cried out immediately. "Is it Pitch? Is he back? Did you find him? What did he do?" Jack refused to answer any of her questions before Sandman landed slowly to them, with a hot-air balloon made of golden sand. He still managed to turn Jack wordless with the beautiful things he created.

Once they were all gathered Jack started to speak: "Sera is gone." For a moment their expressions were blank.

"Oh!" North said, realization lighting up his face. "That tiny girl whose house we kept Pitch in!" The others nodded, remembering her. Jack was surprised: they had forgotten about her that fast?

"That's too bad, but how does this concern us?" Bunny asked. "I think it was Pitch," Jack replied.

They all stared at him in silence. "Jack," Tooth said carefully. "I know you are mad at him, we all are, but we can't just blame everything on him."

"She's got a point," Bunny said. "What could the Nightmare King possibly want from a human girl? Especially an adult. She can't even see him… most of the time."

"But what if he has found a way!" Jack cried out. Why didn't anyone else see it? "Look guys, you don't get it… What it's like to be heard, to be acknowledged, after so long time. I remember when Jaime said my name. It was… wonderful. You know what Pitch is like!"

The other Guardians shared doubtful looks. "As far as I know, the girl may have left all by herself," Bunny noted.

"Yes" Tooth said. "I heard that man, Bill, say to his friend in phone that she does that."

"But I heard him say that this is not like her, she had left a lot of things behind her," Jack argued.

"Well think about this," Bunny growled, turning impatient, "What if you are right and Pitch did take her, what then? Even if we found her, she sure doesn't see us. We aren't able to do anything for her!"

Before this point North had just been following the conversation. Now it however was turning into an argument, so he raised his hand to interrupt them. "Bunny has a point," he said. "We are not able to do anything anyway before we find Pitch." He didn't give Jack an opportunity to argue. "We will keep looking for Pitch like usually. That's all we can do."

oooOooo

Sera landed not-so-gracefully on her face. Damn that cold stone floor. She cursed under her breath as she slowly emerged on her feet, trying to keep what may have remained from her dignity. The Bogeyman was lurking in the shadows of the room. His yellow eyes and teeth, formed into a wicked grin, gave him away. Sera eyed him suspiciously, straightening her back. At this point it was pretty clear he was a threat. What kind of a threat, that was still uncertain.

Though she had her suspicions.

They just stood there looking at each other for a while, Pitch still mostly hiding behind darkness. After few minutes Sera was pretty sure he wasn't about to verge her without a warning again, so she dared to take her eyes off him to glance around herself. They were in a room that reminded her of some sort of a ballroom. Dark, abandoned, dusty ballroom. Huge walls seemed to be made out of the same dark stone as everything else there, but the floor was smooth marble. It felt freezing against her soles. The light was the same, cold and distant as in her dream. Sera still couldn't see the source of it. Big throne-like armchair had been placed against one wall.

Sera cleared her throat not knowing why she had expected him to speak up first. "Care to explain what the hell is going on?" The Nightmare King chuckled from his shadows. "Wrong question, darling," he said and slowly started to glide towards the armchair. Sera was getting really irritated at this point.

"Okay, how about this: What do you want from me?" she said and crossed her arms on her chest. "That's more like it," Pitch said and sat down. He made a small gesture and something dropped from the ceiling on the floor in front of her. Sera jumped back and he laughed at the baffled look on her face. Once recovered from the scare, she narrowed her eyes and picked up her dancing shoes. The Bogeyman grinned at her and shifted to more comfortable position on his chair.

"Dance for me."

oooOooo

**AN:** Now usually my criterion for a chapter is that it takes the plot significantly forward. But I wouldn't be a writer if I didn't write a short filler chapter every now and then, right? I'm not gonna lie: this month is so booked already that I'm probably not able to update. Just hang in there with me mates, and have a good Valentine's day! :)

~Janice


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I LOVE YOU! Yes, you! So this story hit 100 followers few days ago, and I can't even with you guys! Seriously, one night I just wrote a thing and thought it would remain as a one shot, how the hell did we end up here?! So I once again wrote a thing in the middle of the night (it's 4.30 am right now) just to show my gratitude. Hopefully it will be edited later. So you're welcome and I'm sorry. :3**

Chapter 7

Sera tilted her head lightly. Dance for him, huh? Obviously he wasn't talking about a strip tease, but still the thought was unnerving. She danced for people for a living, but somehow this was different. It was the way he looked at her. The intimate way his golden eyes studied her from across the room. There was also a challenge. He wanted to see how she would react.

Basically she had two options. The first impulse was to refuse. Or tell him to jack off, to be more specific. Sera wanted to fight and wipe that smug smile off her captor's face. But what would she gain with that? It wasn't hard to deduce that he had the upper hand here. Which led her to the other option: she could do as he told, as if it meant nothing, and wait for a better moment to get the hell out of there. It was the smart thing to do, but her pride disagreed.

Sera shivered involuntarily. It was cold and she still only wore Bill's shirt and knickers.

"My attire isn't ideal for dancing," she noted.

"I can live with that," Pitch replied with amused tone. Sera scoffed. How did he even know she danced? Did she really have a stalker without knowing it? It didn't make sense; she was very good at noticing these things. She was always instinctively keeping an eye out for things that were out of place, people she seemed to run into too often. But then again, nothing in this man really seemed to make sense. But that was something she would have to properly think about later. This wasn't the right moment to flip off.

It was actually pretty sad, how well she knew how to deal with psychopaths. Well, more you know…

The almighty Nightmare King was getting impatient. His long slender fingers were drumming the arm of his armchair. Yes, she would have to entertain him somehow. Her collarbone was still sore and bleeding.

_Fight me_, he had said. Sera crossed her arms. That's what he wanted, a weak _girl_ who fights for a while, realizes it's pointless and submits. She didn't know exactly what he was, but power complex wasn't hard to spot. She could play this game with him.

And so Sera looked him straight in the eye and smiled sweetly. "As you wish." She put on her dancing shoes, tying the laces carefully around her ankles and making sure he didn't catch a glimpse from the neckline of her shirt. The Bogeyman looked at her, no emotion on his face. Sera hoped he was disappointed.

"Some music would do," she said. "You don't happen to have a jukebox hidden somewhere around here?" Now he was smiling. One dramatic snap of fingers and calm violin music filled the room. It was the music of a dance she had been practicing a lot recently. Sera smiled as if she was rather flattered than creeped out. _Definitely a stalker._

oooOooo

Oh, she was good. After a while of pondering she had agreed to dance. But it wasn't as if she had lost, no, it had seemed like this was exactly what she had planned. Like Pitch had just executed some joke only Sera had understood. Pitch wasn't sure if he liked it. The again, she would take a bit more chewing. Something was telling Pitch he would certainly not get bored with her. Pitch had found the spark in her very appealing. He liked it when a girl had some fight in her. But apparently she had some wit too. Sera didn't act predictably, which you don't come across often when you live so long.

Pitch certainly wasn't bored now. Sera was pure energy turned into flesh. Every movement and posture was done delicately, but still it seemed like she wanted to stretch a little bit further, to jump a little bit higher… That ridiculous hair with its blue tips twirled around her head and her sharp cheekbones and dark eyes. She was looking nowhere in particular, lost in her own world. She was so slim and light, her limbs like sticks, and yet her movements bursted energy, Pitch could almost feel it radiating towards him. And in that moment he realized that she was more alive than he had been in a long time.

Pitch lost track of time watching her. Sera's pale skin was now covered in sweat. Shadows were dancing on it and around her; they were in his lair after all. He could hear her panting. Eventually her physics would give in. Nightmare King smiled at himself. Soon he would see just how far Sera would be willing to go before that.

oooOooo

The world was made of cold marble and music and golden eyes on her skin. Despite the situation Sera was lost in the dance and she loved it. She hadn't eaten in some time so her head was light, light, light but her body was strong.

The song stopped and another one started, a small pause daring her to quit. Sera wasn't there to quit so she danced her way through it. And the next one. And the next. Apparently Pitch wanted to see how long she would last. Sera wouldn't be the one to give up first. She felt her left foot tremble. What an annoying flaw. Everything started to turn foggy. Had she danced for minutes or for hours? Well, at least she hadn't given up. _Jokes on you, Nightmare King._ Sera laughed out loud and the cold marble almost felt kind against her cheek.

oooOooo

A tiny amount of crimson blood trickled down her cheek; she had hit it to the floor when she had fallen. Pitch towered over her small frame, observing. Had she lost her consciousness due to straining her body too much or had she just hit her head too hard? Maybe both. Anyhow Pitch had to admire her devotion.

She was such a pretty sight laying there her limbs sprawled on the floor, sweaty and bloody. Pitch almost felt tempted to leave her like that. As a decoration. But he didn't feel like breaking his new toy just yet. That would be a waste.

Sighing he collected the mess from the floor on his arms. He could feel her heartbeat. That girl was so light! Pitch felt like tossing her a little bit but once again, he had to restrain from breaking her. For now.

**AN: Seriously I'd like to say thank you to every single person who follows this story no matter if you've followed from the first chapter or started yesterday. Also if there's someone who doesn't officially follow, but comes every now and then to check this out, I love you too.**

***awkward virtual group hug***

~Janice


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